The Hindu : Kerala News : A nightmare comes true for Eloor residents

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Jul 07, 2004

Kerala

Kerala

A nightmare comes true for Eloor residents

By Our Staff Reporter

KOCHI, JULY 6. The fire that gutted the Hindustan Insecticide's Endosulfan plant at Udyogamandal early on Tuesday was a nightmare-come-true for Eloor residents.

"We had on several occasions over the last few years brought the impending danger to the notice of the district administration," says M. K. Kunhappan, Vice-Chairman of Periyar Malineekarana Virudha Samithy, a citizen's initiative that is fighting pollution in Eloor and the river Periyar.

The convener of the initiative, M. M. Zakeer Hussain, condemned what he said was an effort by the HIL management to play down the fire incident. He has called for a comprehensive inquiry into the incident as well as a study by an independent agency on the security situation in the area.

The initiative believes that a chemical emergency preparedness plan and a permanent set up to implement it can create awareness among people and, in the time of an emergency, help the rescue operations immensely.

"We have been demanding that a bridge be built across Periyar at Methanam for the last 10 years," says the president of the Eloor panchayat, Subaida Hamsa. Once the bridge is in place, it would be possible for the people living on the northern edge of the panchayat to be evacuated quickly in case of an emergency, she says.

The latest information she and the residents of Eloor have on the bridge is that soil testing for the construction has been just completed.

"An inquiry into the incident should help clear doubts in the minds of the public and the workers," says the president of HIL Employees' Union (CITU), K. N. Gopinath, who feels that the company is well-equipped to meet any emergency situation.

A fire fighting truck was an immediate requirement, he said, even as he called for an overhaul of the production supply pipelines and electrical wiring in the plants.

He said that the company lacked enough money to carry out maintenance work in these areas.

This can lead to accidents, he said.

The poor quality of air and the water in the Periyar has forced residents in Eloor to rise against the administration.

A Greenpeace India study in September 2003 had pointed out: "In comparison to less polluted Pindimana in the same district, the chances that Eloor citizens will contract cancer are 2.85 times higher, children are 2.63 times at higher risk of malformation due to congenital and chromosomal aberrations... Chances that children may die due to birth defects have increased 3.8 times, death due to bronchitis at Eloor is up 3.4 times. Death due to asthma in Eloor is up by 2.2 times."

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